ABSTRACT
This section concentrates on the generic agency of Commedia Masks, rather than their individual characteristics. This emphasis addresses dramaturgically relevant information which can be extracted from both contemporary and Renaissance sources, which can then be chosen as source materials for performance, or as tools for analysis. Thus, I focus on cultural purpose and dramaturgy which, ultimately, creates the story arc in which Masks find space and license to perform, and I confine descriptions of individual Masks to the societal spectrum diagrams.
